No Taxation without Representation

More than five thousand five hundred of you responded last week to my letter on the Super Committee disaster. Of those responding, 96 percent said they expected that the Super Committee would fail to make real spending cuts but would raise taxes. Almost 93 percent said its proceedings should be open to the public.

The idea of twelve people controlling massive debt reduction is so foolish that everywhere I go, Americans are cheering each time I condemn the concept. They understand instinctively that the Super Committee is designed to shut Americans and their elected representatives out of the process while concentrating power in the hands of a few.

This week, I want to follow up with a few images that make the truth about the Super Committee even clearer. I encourage you to share them with your friends and family through Facebook, Twitter, and email, because everyone should see what a terrible deal this is for the American people. (You can also go to GingrichProductions.com/norepresentation to download free full size, printable posters to share.)

We are being taxed to support an enormous government while citizens of 39 states have no representation at all in these critical decisions about its size and scope.

Our map shows what the United States would look like based on the makeup of the Super Committee. Most Americans aren’t on this map at all. The whole state of New York is lost in the crease between Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The middle and southern states are missing almost completely. The thin line below South Carolina is where Florida and my home state, Georgia, should be. Texas and California combined have the same representation as Michigan.

The only good thing about the map is that Washington, D.C., has shrunk so small, you can’t even see it.

Americans living in Virginia or Florida, New York or Nevada, New Hampshire or Georgia should ask why not a single member of Congress from their state is allowed to represent them. Texans should be equally incredulous that only one of their 35 members is part of the discussions.

While the Super Committee gives a select few enormous power and denies most states a place in the discussions at all, Americans from every state have lost overall representation in Congress under the plan.

Texans and Californians each have less than three percent of their Congressional delegations included in making decisions. Pennsylvanians and Ohioans have five percent.

The state with the highest portion of its delegation involved still has just one of three members making decisions, and that is one of the least populated states in the country–Montana with fewer than a million people.

In debates this important, government should strive to involve and to represent the American people, not to exclude them and make decisions in secret.

There is a better alternative. Americans have sent 535 of their fellow citizens to Congress to speak on their behalf, and Congress has 217 committees and subcommittees in place to tackle the complexities of balancing the budget.

Appointing one committee of 12 people behind closed doors to “fix” our spending crisis, while excluding 523 of our elected representatives, isn’t just dumb. In America, it’s wrong.